Thomas Montgomery Newman is an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career that has spanned over four decades, he has scored numerous films including The Player (1992), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998), American Beauty and The Green Mile, Pay It Forward (2000), In the Bedroom (2001), Road to Perdition and White Oleander, Finding Nemo (2003) and its sequel Finding Dory (2016), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Cinderella Man (2005), WALL-E (2008), the James Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015), Bridge of Spies (2015), 1917 (2019), and Elemental (2023).
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game, or other entertainment product that was unpromising on release but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have little promotion or lack a successful launch but gradually develops a fandom following media attention, which in turn increases its public exposure and public interest in the product. As Variety puts it, "A 'sleeper hit' can be defined as the kind of show that catches us by surprise—programs whose popularity grows over time and can ultimately outshine the preordained hits." A sleeper hit often lacks star performers or high production values, but prevails, at times against its own makers' expectations, on the strength of such qualities as narrative, approach, or novelty, as well as market accidents. Sleeper hit films benefit theater owners because the owners keep a larger percentage of money from ticket sales.
Cars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2006 Disney/Pixar film of the same name. Released by Walt Disney Records on June 6, 2006, nine songs from the soundtrack are from popular and contemporary artists. The styles of these songs vary between pop, blues, country, heavy metal, and rock. The remaining eleven pieces are orchestral scores composed and conducted by Randy Newman. The soundtrack was released three days before the film's release into theaters. It was also the fifth Pixar film not to be scored by Michael Giacchino or Thomas Newman. On November 25, 2006, the soundtrack's position on the Billboard 200 shot up from #126 to #47, with a 209% sales increase of 25,000 units. This was most likely due to the holiday season and the fact that Cars was released on DVD. This was the first Pixar soundtrack to ever achieve Gold Certification in the United States. It is now Platinum in the U.S.
Ralph Eggleston was an American animator, art director, storyboard artist, and production designer at Pixar Animation Studios. He won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for For the Birds.
Peter Sohn is an American filmmaker, animator, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for directing the Pixar animated films The Good Dinosaur (2015) and Elemental (2023), the latter of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also voiced Emile in Ratatouille (2007), Squishy in Monsters University (2013), Ciccio in Luca (2021), and Sox in Lightyear (2022).
Finding Nemo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2003 Disney/Pixar film of the same name. Featuring original score composed by Thomas Newman, the cousin of Randy Newman, who had collaborated with Pixar productions since Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999) and Monsters, Inc. (2001). The album consisted 39 instrumental tracks from Thomas' score and a cover of Bobby Darin's 1959 single "Beyond The Sea" (which is also a cover of the 1945 single "La Mer" by Charles Trenet) performed by Robbie Williams, released by Walt Disney Records on May 20, 2003.
WALL·E is the soundtrack album to the 2008 Disney-Pixar film of the same name composed and conducted by Thomas Newman. WALL·E is the second Pixar film to be scored by Thomas Newman after Finding Nemo (2003). It was also the second Pixar film not to be scored by Randy Newman or Michael Giacchino. Released by Walt Disney Records on June 24, 2008, it was mainly composed by Thomas Newman and orchestration is credited to Carl Johnson, JAC Redford, Thomas Pasatieri, and Gary K. Thomas. Newman previously scored Finding Nemo and most of all other Pixar films have been scored by either Newman's cousin Randy, Michael Giacchino or Patrick Doyle.
Ratatouille (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2007 Disney/Pixar film of the same name composed by Michael Giacchino. The film marked Giacchino's second Pixar film after The Incredibles, which was also directed by Bird and also the second Pixar film not to be scored by Randy Newman or Thomas Newman. The album features original score cues, with an original song "Le Festin" written by Giacchino and performed by Camille, and was released by Walt Disney Records on June 26, 2007.
Toy Story 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to Disney/Pixar's 2010 film of the same name composed by Randy Newman. The score was composed by recurrent Pixar composer Randy Newman, who also scored for the previous instalments in the franchise. The score album, featuring an original song "We Belong Together" performed by Newman, and instrumental tracks were released on June 15, 2010 by Walt Disney Records. It was also the sixth Pixar film not to be scored by Michael Giacchino or Thomas Newman. The track "You've Got a Friend in Me" from the first instalment is also featured in the album, performed by The Gipsy Kings.
"When She Loved Me" is a song written by American musician Randy Newman and recorded by Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan for Pixar's animated film Toy Story 2 (1999). The song is sung from the perspective of character Jessie, a toy cowgirl, as she reveals her backstory by reflecting upon her defunct relationship with her original owner, by whom she was outgrown. Heard in the film during a flashback sequence, the filmmakers decided to incorporate a song into the montage during which Jessie details her backstory to Woody after multiple attempts to show the character relaying her experience verbally proved unsuccessful.
Finding Dory is a 2016 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Angus MacLane, produced by Lindsey Collins, and written by Stanton and Victoria Strouse. The second installment to the Finding Nemo franchise, the film is a both a sequel and spin-off following the events of Finding Nemo (2003). Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks reprise their roles from the first film, with Hayden Rolence, Ed O'Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy joining the cast. The film focuses on the amnesiac fish Dory (DeGeneres), who journeys to be reunited with her parents.
Finding Nemo is a CGI animated film series and Disney media franchise that began with the 2003 film of the same name, produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The original film was followed by a standalone sequel, Finding Dory, released in 2016. Both films were directed by Andrew Stanton. The film series received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences with two films released to-date, the series has grossed $1.9 billion worldwide.
Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular was a multimedia night-time show at Disneyland. This show premiered alongside the returning Paint the Night parade on April 13, 2018, as part of the Pixar Fest celebration. The show used fireworks, projection mapping, pyrotechnics, lasers and searchlights to retell stories from various Pixar movies.
Toy Story 4 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album for the 2019 film Toy Story 4, the fourth instalment in the Toy Story franchise, created by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Randy Newman, who composed for the previous installments returned to score the film. Unlike the previous installments, the score was recorded at The Newman Scoring Stage, Twentieth Century Fox Studios. The soundtrack featured Newman's score along with three original songs, which released on June 21, 2019, with the film. In addition to the English-language, the soundtrack album was released in Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Neutral), Italian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Kazakh, Korean, Japanese, Russian and Polish languages.
Luca (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to Disney/Pixar's 2021 film of the same name, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The album, featuring original score composed by Dan Romer, was released on the Walt Disney Records label on June 18, 2021, coinciding the same day as the film's streaming release on Disney+. The film further includes Italian songs by Mina, Edoardo Bennato, Gianni Morandi, Rita Pavone and Quartetto Cetra, and excerpts from operas by Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.
The Good Dinosaur (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the score album to the 2015 Disney/Pixar animated film of the same name. The film score is composed by Mychael Danna and his brother Jeff Danna, thus becoming the first Pixar film to be scored by two composers. The score was recorded during April and October 2015, and various instruments were used, including pre-Columbian instruments, to reflect the landscape around the characters, which was an important part of the storytelling. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack on November 20, 2015.
Elemental is a 2023 American animated romantic comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream, it was written by Sohn, John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh. The film stars the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Catherine O'Hara. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic elements of nature, the story follows fire element Ember Lumen (Lewis) and water element Wade Ripple (Athie), who spend time together in the city while trying to save a convenience store owned by Ember's father, Bernie.
The Help is a 2011 period comedy-drama film written and directed by Tate Taylor and based on Kathryn Stockett's 2009 novel of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast, including Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone. Two soundtrack albums were released for the film: an original soundtrack and an original score. Music producer Thomas Newman, music supervisor Jennifer Hawks, director Tate Taylor, worked on both the soundtracks as the executive producer, while Newman also composed the film score. The soundtrack album was released by Geffen Records and DreamWorks Records on August 4, 2011, while Varèse Sarabande released the score album on September 6.
"Steal The Show" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lauv, from the soundtrack to Disney/Pixar's 2023 film Elemental. The film's composer Thomas Newman and Michael Matosic respectively handled the music and lyrics with Lauv. The song plays during the montage of the dates of Ember Lumen and Wade Ripple, two of the main characters, respectively, as well as the end credits. It was released on June 2, 2023 as a single, two weeks before the film's release.
